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9/17/12

The simple fact is that Jaamal Magloire needs the Toronto Raptors more than they need him. The Raptors in a season where everyone knew expectations were low signed the Toronto native to a contract last season. It was in my view a way to get positive spin, as much as it was to get veteran leadership, as the Raptors claimed. Magloire is on the last legs of his NBA career and after years of some people wanting the Raptors to acquire the Toronto native they finally did.

Much like how he would fail to show up for Team Canada time and time again, he passed on the opportunity to play for the Raptors. He even signed with Miami when Chris Bosh first left to join the Heat. The fact this is the guy that will go down as the first Canadian to play for the Raptors will turn my stomach till the day I die.

People searched for reasons to find his relevance last season. There just wasn’t any and he should have gone the way of Rasual Butler. He didn’t though, but he offered about as much as Butler did to the Raptors. Jamaal at one time was a high level NBA talent, but that time was back in 2003. It was his best season in the NBA with at the time Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets would move to the Western Conference and Magloire went from All-Star to irrelevance fairly quickly.

This would not stop his name from coming up with fans to come home to the Raptors for years to come. Sometimes the dream is far better than the reality.

Aside from the fact he never played for his country there is arrogance about Magloire that rubs me the wrong way. Case and point how last season ended. He was selected to address the crowd before the final game of the season vs. the Nets. Not even under contract to the club for this season, he would tell fans that the Raptors were going to be heading back to the post-season this year. How on earth is a guy that might not even be here able to do that?

I would have had no issue if Demar DeRozan or Andrea Bargnani is making such a claim. They will be part of any such playoff effort. Magloire would be for the most part a spectator to one. I guess what got my juices flowing on this topic again, was an interview he had on Prime Time Sports on Friday from The Fan 590.

Again, I sit back and hear a guy that has not officially been offered a non-guaranteed contract talking about the Raptors future. How on earth did this guy become the spokesperson for the Toronto Raptors? I get the impression from some he is treated with the same type of reverence that a Steve Nash is treated. He is no where close to a Steve Nash even at the peak of his career.

Make no mistake about if the Raptors had not offered this guy a deal last season there is a strong possibility his NBA career would be finished. There is a major difference in Steve Nash ending his NBA Career in Toronto while still able to contribute to the Raptors and this.

The Raptors get more out of Aaron Gray who we profiled on Friday than they do Jaamal Magloire. Canada has some legitimate stars coming along in basketball and they will far surpass anything this guy has done. I would be proud to have a guys like that listed in the history books as the first Canadian Raptor. I would be proud if it was Canada’s greatest player ever Steve Nash. Instead I have to live with it being a washed up guy that was last productive in 2003.

What I shouldn’t have to do is have to endure that for another season. The Raptors have more than enough big people without Jaamal Magloire eating up a space on this roster. This was no fairytale story that some so desperately want it to be. It might be for Magloire when he looks back on his career but not for anyone else.

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